Elizabethtown  As leaders at North Country Community College continue to talk expanding the college throughout Essex and Franklin counties, the Essex County Board of Supervisors showed its support Aug. 5.

During its monthly full board meeting, the board voted, 16-1, to accept the 2013-14 spending plan for the school of $14,625,300, with $1,190,000 as Essex County’s share.

Out of the Essex County share, which has remained steady for the past three years, $1,140,000 will go toward the expense of operating while $50,000 will be put toward the Capital Building Fund.

The lone vote against the funding was Willsboro’s Ed Hatch, who said last week that he does not feel the county can afford paying for the institution.

“I will continue to vote no because I do not believe we can afford it,” Hatch said. “We are going to hear the same rhetoric in November and here these people sit in and never get cut back. I do not think that this is in the best interest in what community colleges are for.”

Prior to the vote, the county held a public hearing on the matter, which received no public comments in person or written.

Both Essex and Franklin counties are asked to approve matching amounts for the support of the college, which has campuses in Saranac Lake, Malone and Ticonderoga.